The Law School Library has an excellent collection of U.S. Supreme Court records and briefs. From 1975 to date, the Law Library's holdings of argued and unargued cases are comprehensive.
Years Holdings Format
1793-1974 Landmark Briefs and Arguments (selective) book
1974-1975 All argued cases microfiche
1975-date All argued and non-argued cases microfiche
1953-date Oral argument transcripts microfiche
Items in microfiche can be reproduced in paper or microfiche formats (inquire at Reference Desk). Each copy reproduced is 10 cents. All of the materials noted above are housed in the microform room.
The following descriptions of specific holdings are intended to facilitate use of the collection:
1. LANDMARK BRIEFS AND ARGUMENTS OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 1793-1974.
2. LAW REPRINTS: U.S. SUPREME COURT RECORDS AND BRIEFS 1974-75 term through 1979-80 term.
3. IHS AND CIS: U.S. SUPREME COURT RECORDS AND BRIEFS 1980-date.
4. COMPLETE ORAL ARGUMENTS OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES, 1953-date.
Your use of the U.S. Supreme Court briefs collection will be made easier if you know the following information about a particular case:
If you have only part of this information, check at the Reference Desk for assistance in obtaining the rest of it. Note that since our filing system is based on docket number within term of court, that information is most critical.
To obtain a DOCKET NUMBER when the case name is known, several approaches can be taken:
If you need briefs from a pending case that are not on LEXIS or WESTLAW or have not yet arrived in our library, check with a Reference Librarian. The library has access to a fee-based research service that receives copies of briefs within a week after filing with the U.S. Supreme Court. Also, it may be possible to obtain briefs from counsel.
Since our collection prior to 1974 is selective rather than comprehensive, you may need briefs we do not have if you are doing retrospective research. As a member of the Mid-America Law School Library Consortium we have ready access to the holdings of academic law libraries in the region. Check at the Reference Desk on the main floor if you need interlibrary loan assistance with briefs.
In LEXIS, filings for U.S. Supreme Court cases argued beginning with the October 1979 term
are contained in the BRIEFS file of the GENFED library. Transcripts of oral arguments are available since the 1989 term in the USTRAN file of the GENFED library.
In WESTLAW, Merits and Amicus Briefs filed with the U.S. Supreme Court are available for cases in which cert has been granted or probable jurisdiction has been noted and for which oral arguments have been scheduled. Merits Briefs beginning with the 1990-91 term and Amicus briefs starting with the 1995-96 term are contained in the SCT-BRIEF database. Transcripts of oral arguments are available since the 1990 term in the SCT-ORALARG database.
The Oyez Project of Northwestern University contains audio files of oral arguments since 1955 <oyez.nwu.edu>.
A weekly summary of U.S. Supreme Court activities is available via e-mail from Willamette University School of Law <www.willamette.edu/law/wlo>.
Synopses (syllabi) of decisions prepared by the Reporter of Decisions of the U. S. Supreme Court are available via e-mail from Cornell University's Legal Information Institute <www.law.cornell.edu/focus/bulletins.html>.
WashLaw Web <www.washlaw.edu> Courts enables researchers to conduct key-word searches of U.S. Supreme Court opinions from 1937-1975. Links to FindLaw's Supreme Court Opinions <www.findlaw.com> and Cornell's Supreme Court Collection <supct.law.cornell.edu/supct> are also found there. Some case status information is available at both sites.
United States Law Week Supreme Court Today, an extensive U.S. Supreme Court case tracking service (paid subscription), is available by contacting a librarian at the Reference Desk.
Preview of United States Supreme Court Cases is a service that strives to "concisely and clearly analyze all cases given plenary review by the Court during the present term." Prepared by law professors, the analyses include the issues, facts, analysis, significance and contact information for each case previewed. Washburn Law Library's holding are complete since 1981. Current issues are on reserve. Issues from prior terms are bound and housed in the main stacks at K 16 .R484. Preview is on LEXIS from 1991 in the PRE-VU file of the ABA, GENFED and several other libraries. WESTLAW's coverage is from 1989 in the SCT-PREVIEW database.
Rev. 9/99 jec